What's on Your Mind? - Five Steps to Starting Your Own Homeschool Co-op

"Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend" (Proverbs 27:17).

For many families, homeschooling works better when one or more classes can be shared with a group. Parents and their children decide to regularly gather in each other's homes or a rented facility to cooperatively teach academic subjects like math or science or extra-curricular courses like art, sports, or drama. Better known as homeschool co-ops, these groups generally have anywhere from five to 50 member families with homeschool parents volunteering to teach particular areas of skill or interest.

However, what do you do when your community doesn't have a homeschool co-op available for parents? In this month's "What's on Your Mind," we tackle this question and also offer creative ideas for group gatherings.Have other questions you would like answered in the next edition of the Homeschool View™? Submit your question today!

Q: What are the best ways a mom could start a small homeschool co-op that would be more age specific to meet her own child's social needs? Plus, what are some good ideas a small homeschool co-op might do as a group?- Alesia F., Oklahoma

A: Here are five helpful steps to starting your own homeschool co-op:

1. Get HelpTo start a successful homeschool co-op for children close in age to yours, the first thing to do is recruit the support of a few, like-minded homeschool parents. Because every homeschooling family is busy and no single person can run a homeschool co-op, choose three or four organized homeschool parents who display great leadership skills and an enthusiastic desire to get things accomplished.

2. Pick a PurposeWith your group of leaders, decide on your homeschool co-op's goals. Do you want to get children together to socialize, save money as a group when participating in field trips, serve the community in an event, or provide academic and instructional classes for your children? Whatever your overall purpose, your administrative group needs to establish a mission statement and a firm set of rules for both parents and children to avoid confusion and misunderstandings. For instance, how often will you meet and where, will membership fees be charged to cover expenses, will outside teachers be hired, and will every parent need to commit to teaching, supervising, and helping with clean up tasks?

3. Spread the WordGet the information on your homeschool co-op out to the homeschooling community. Put up flyers and speak to church leaders, local librarians, youth agencies, and other places that cater to homeschooling families. Use the Internet to find local homeschool groups online and send emails with your mission statement to their leaders. You can even create a website for your homeschool co-op with pages for announcements, calendars, discussion boards, photo galleries, and more!

4. Host an Information NightSend out a general email to the homeschoolers in your area to gauge interest and communicate your co-op's purpose to potential members. Be sure to tell interested parents more about your goals at this time and have any guidelines or rules printed to hand out at the meeting. Offer a sign-up sheet for your first planned activity or class, as well as an expectation worksheet to clarify what each family desires from the homeschooling co-op.

5. Plan ActivitiesThe activities planned for your homeschool co-op should support the goals previously established. However, like the flexibility in your own homeschool, there are many things a homeschool co-op can do collectively as a group. Pick a name, create team sports, design T-shirts, publish a monthly newsletter, and participate in field trips. The possibilities are endless! In fact, even the running of the homeschool co-op itself can be an excellent learning opportunity for children.

In addition, here are some other ideas and topics you may wish to do as a homeschool group:

What about your family? If you're currently involved in a homeschool co-op, what activities have been rewarding and enriching for your children's homeschool education? Share your thoughts and ideas in the comment field below.